I hope to use this blog as an avenue to express my thoughts and adventures of all of my fishing expeditions and any other journeys I may undertake.

Friday, March 17, 2017

Interesting Road Trip

Cathey and I recently spent an afternoon in the little
community of Flintville Tennessee.It’s an area in Tennessee
with beautiful rolling hills, deep ravines and small clear streams. All of the
above characteristics in this little community contribute to one of the oldest
fish hatcheries in the state of Tennessee.
Numerous clear springs are located at the bottom of the ravines, which provide
the cold water to keep all the rainbow trout alive in the Flintville Trout
Hatchery. The director told us that the water is harness from nine springs and pumped
through the indoor tanks and outdoor concrete trays. The indoor tanks whole the
smaller trout from ¾” to 3” fingerlings: while 300 yards of concrete trays 6
ft. wide 2 to 3 ft. deep outdoors house the largest trout. The outdoor trout
range from 4” to 12” in size. Once the trout reach the 12” size then they are
transferred to Tim’s Ford tailrace and warm water streams in a 100 mile radius
of the hatchery. There are numerous warm water streams in middle Tennessee
that receive rainbow trout during the months of December, January, February,
and March. During those months the water temp is cold enough to sustain life
for the hundreds of rainbow that are release in the streams. Very few trout survive
after April once the water temps move into the upper 60’s. In fact most all are
caught before the temperature takes a toll on them.

This is my second
trip to a fish hatchery and today’s visit was the better of the two. The
director made the visit very informative and interesting during the hour tour.
I am sure most of you have toured a hatchery before, but for those of you who
haven’t it is worth the time spent.

Numerous indoor tanks containing the smaller rainbow

Sorry for the reflection--thousands of tiny rainbow, most still have the egg yoke attach to their stomach--these tiny trout will be twelve inches in a year

Quite a find, a smaller tank inside with albino trout

Yards of outdoor concrete trays containing larger trout--a lot of these trays had screens on them

Feeding time, quite a frenzy!!!

This trip really got me pumped for the coming season; this post is part one. In the coming weeks I will share with you'll part 2 fishing McCutcheon Creek in Spring Hill where some of the trout was stocked today. I live about four miles from the warm water stream.

Well worth the time and effort to see things from the other side of the perspective, Bill. To see the fish from basically the beginning to the end in a Hatchery setting sure can whet the appetite for sure. Looking forward to your report on the small creek fishing in your area.............

Hatcheries are necessary for modern trout fishing, as in stocking the state's "warm water" streams that you indicate. My complaint against their operations comes when trout are stocked in cold water streams where the wild fish really don't need the competition. But in any case, they are fun to visit, and I'm glad you enjoyed the tour!

WaltThe closet wild streams near me are in the Great Smokey Mountain State Park. All the tailraces within a couple hours of me are all stocked. Warm water stream stocking is debatable for me which I will expand on more in my next post. Thanks for the comment

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About Me

I am an avid fly fisherman. I started fishing with my dad when I was five years old and have never known life without fishing. The love of the outdoors has been one of the reasons I have enjoyed fishing for all these years. It is the greatest therapy in the world. When I am on the water I forget about everything else except landing that elusive trout, bluegill, crappie or bass.